


Mais Ce Vers Quoi Nous Allons

by LadyOneiroi



Category: Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Genre: AU, Gen, Spoilers for Days of Blood and Starlight, Spoilers for Dreams of Gods and Monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 08:05:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1461943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOneiroi/pseuds/LadyOneiroi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I would be proud to work alongside you."<br/>(DOGAM AU/Spoilers for DOBAS and DOGAM!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mais Ce Vers Quoi Nous Allons

"You don’t have to."

Of all the things he expected to come from her mouth, a refusal was not counted. Gratitude, he had anticipated, perhaps relief, but not this sudden chirp of refute. What his hearts-daughter intended to do could not be done alone, and he was a master of the craft centuries before the girl was even born. Surely she did not truly mean to turn him down and only played at being polite.

Brimstone gave Karou time to take back her refusal, to acknowledge how foolish she must seem. She did not, however, surrender, not even under his golden gaze. That was new. The girl had always deferred to such a glance in the past.

She was hardly a girl anymore, he reminded himself silently. She was a woman, and she moved to explain herself.

"The war is over, Brimstone, I won’t ask you to go back to working like it was still going on. When we get back there’s going to be a lot to do. Rebuilding the city, or foraging food, a dozen things to keep us going. You can do anything you want. I mean, you don’t want to go back to resurrecting—"

Her impossibly dark eyes seemed to dull, and he noted the furrow of her pale brow. It is a pondering glance he was well used to, a constant between both of Karou’s lifetimes. She was quietly judging him, his posture, his silence.

"You’re free."

You don’t want this, she urged in her words. He had worked for a thousand years at resurrection, making bodies that were only to be left to rot on battlefields. The thankless, joyless task had consumed his life, left him little to show for it but rumors and, often, mistrust.

Karou was not the master of his destiny. He was, and he laughed at her words, though it came out more of a snort.

"I want to."

The three words, and the preceding scoff that might have been a laugh, seemed to echo in the chamber. The blue-haired youth stiffened for a moment, and it was her turn to wait for him to change his tone. She would be kept waiting.

"All I have ever done, Karou, is create soldiers for war. I made bodies that were only to be destroyed. I will never bring people back to life so that they might only exist die, not again."

He could see her relax, release a breath. Sensible Brimstone, she might have thought, always the one to make logical choices.

"I want to bring my people back so they can _live._ ”

What is there to say to that? Karou, who won so many battles with her talk of peace, of a new world, appeared to have run out of words. Brimstone continued to stare down at her until she shifted, perhaps uncomfortably, and he closed the distance between them to put a hand on her shoulder.

"You will need all the help available to you, in the coming days. Rebuilding a people will take time, and patience, and support. I would be proud to work alongside you."

He cannot fault her for failing to meet his eyes, for the way she shook. It is unlike him, he knows, but for once he has plans, and a dream that has been realized. Perhaps, he thought, he could try to be a bit more open with others than he had been in the past. It was a new era, after all, one that did not call for solemnity hanging over people like a shroud.

Karou’s bony arms wrapped around him as best as she could manage, and he was stock still. It had been a long, long time since anyone had been so close to him, so warm. It was not unwelcome, but it did set him on edge, as physical contact so often did. The Wishmonger counted heartbeats until he was able to relax, allowing one massive hand to rest on the top of Karou’s head.

"I’m not going anywhere, child." He said, to his daughter who was decidedly not a child. Brimstone was unsure what else there was to say, having spoken of his pride in her and her realization of her dream shared with Akiva before the discussion of his future had even begun.

Future, that was a strange thing to fathom, though his dreamers mind drifted toward it as Karou continued to cling to him. A future in the ruins of the city he had occupied for so long, that he had helped found. In the near future, he might be back to work at his old trade, but it would be so different. He would be in a tent, no doubt, rather than that dreary shop he had occupied for so long. He hoped he might be able to feel the sun on his back as he worked, have a bit of natural light to see by.

The world was remade, and it was open wide to him.

In what might be the strangest turn of events yet, the old Wishmonger smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to the lovely Leslie for betaing and the wonderful Nicole for putting up with my silly ideas.  
> The title is from the quote Le futur n'est pas ce qui vient vers nous, mais ce vers quoi nous allons, or 'The future is not what is coming at us, but what we are headed for' if you prefer.


End file.
